Jack White, Trent Reznor, Beck, More Join Petition Against YouTube
Dozens of big names have signed a petition advocating Congress for reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which regulates the circulation of copyrighted work. Previously reported names signing the petition included Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, U2, Vince Staples, Kings of Leon, and Carole King. Now, the full list is here, and it includes Beck, Jack White, Trent Reznor, David Byrne, the Black Keys, U2, Spoon, Pusha T, Miguel, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Pearl Jam, Pharrell, Yoko Ono, Ryan Adams, TV on the Radio, Roy Ayers, Mark Ronson, Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Lady Gaga, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Slash, Elvis Costello, Desiigner, Kacey Musgraves, Sade, Ronnie Spector, Rod Stewart, the Who’s Pete Townshend, and many more.
Nineteen companies, including three major labels, the Recording Academy, and the Recording Industry Association of America, also support the petition. Find the petition and the full list of signees below, via Yahoo.
The petition is aimed at curtailing the practices of sites like YouTube, which allows users to upload copyrighted material for anyone to hear. (YouTube, however, isn’t specifically named in the petition.) Under the DMCA, YouTube and companies like them are given “safe harbor” from copyright infringement lawsuits as long as it complies with takedown notices. “The tech companies who benefit from the DMCA today were not the intended protectorate when it was signed into law nearly two decades ago,” the petition reads.
The petition says the DMCA “has allowed major tech companies to grow and generate huge profits by creating ease of use for consumers to carry almost every recorded song in history in their pocket via a smartphone, while songwriters’ and artists’ earnings continue to diminish.” It notes that the law was passed in a “technologically out-of-date” era, and also calls for “sensible reform that balances the interests of creators with the interests of the companies who exploit music for their financial enrichment.”
YouTube has been attacked by musicians who’ve criticized its approach to paying artists. The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney said “I probably can find 250 songs that are available which the artist isn’t getting paid for” within five minutes of surfing YouTube. Trent Reznor said the service was “built on the backs of free, stolen content.” In December, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke compared YouTube and parent company Google to Nazi Germany. Both Carney and Reznor signed the petition.
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